Environmental Engineering

1. What topics does Environmental Engineering cover?drinking water treatment - ensure an adequate quantity of safe, high quality waterwastewater treatment - prevent negative environmental impacts of the discharged water and

handle residuals generated, such as biosolids that can be used as fertilizerair quality - design processes to prevent industrial emmissions of air pollutantssurface water quality - prevent degradation of the quality of water in rivers and lakes, so that

natural populations of aquatic life and human uses can be maintainedsolid waste - landfill design, recycling, destruction processesRCRA hazardous waste - treatment of currently generated hazardous industrial wastesCERCLA hazardous waste - clean-up of past contaminated sitesIndustrial Waste Minimization/TreatmentHealth and SafetyPermitting

2. What skills provide the “tools” and foundations for Environmental Engineers:chemistry (physical, organic, aquatic),microbiology and biology,energy and mass transfer,ecology

The “application of engineering principles, under constraints, to protect and enhance the quality ofthe environment and to protect and enhance public health and welfare”.

constraints = money, political pressure, space, technology, etc.

History:Before 1968, there was only “sanitary engineering” or “public health engineering” as types ofengineering. In 1968 true “environmental engineering” with a total view to air, water, and soilquality was born. In the U.S, the environmental engineering profession is driven largely byregulations (many of which came about as a result of public pressure). These regulations areprimarily at the Federal level, as developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); statesalso have their own sets of environmental regulations. In some cases, the state regulations may bemore stringent than the federal limits (example: California air quality standards). The continualdevelopment of new technology is also changing the face of environmental engineering.

Drinking Water Treatment milestones2000 B.C. India - water heated, boiled, or filtered to remove impurities1450 B.C. Egypt - tomb drawing shows water treated by sedimentation/clarifying1852 London, England passes law requiring all drinking water to be filtered1854 London, Dr. Snow traced a cholera epidemic to a city well1914 U.S. Public Health Service - law for max bacterial plate count1974 SDWA specific concentration limits for all water supplies serving more than 25 people orhaving more than 15 servic connections

Case examples of water treatment challenges:Oxford Junction, Iowa: both lead (from pipes) and pesticide (from crop run-off into

groundwater) contamination of water; where to spend money first?Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Crytosporium in drinking water infects the population; conventional

treatment processes that kill bacteria not effective (also an on-going struggle in Austrailia)

Primarily interested in removing taste & odor causing compounds and killing harmful bacteria andviruses in the water. Chlorine is the most commoly used method to kill harmful bacteria; however,this can have a negative side-result in the formation of chlorinated organics which are carcinogenic.

Wastewater Treatment

early 1800s wastewater first collectedlate 1800s - early 1900s systematic wastewater treatment1948 US Federal Water Pollution Control Act -> led to regulations on the quality of effluent fromthe wastewater treatment plants that could be discharged into lakes and riversWastewater plants remove organics and nutrients such as N and P from the water.Quantity approx. 600 L/capita-day (inc. industrial flow)

Air Pollution Control

1307 King Edward I banned burning of coal in lime kilns (due to resulting smoke problems)1881 Chicago and Cincinnati pased antismoke ordinances1948 smog episode in Donora, Pennsylvania (near Pitts), weather combined with steel mill, wiremill, and zinc mill effluents resulted in 1 week of severe smog (visibility so poor drove withheadlights on during the day) 26 died, 6000 ill1948 London, England 700-800 air pollution related deaths1952 London, England severe smog episode lasted 5 days, during which 4000 people died

(U.S. passed Clean Air Act of 1955)(result: British passed Clean Air Act of 1956)

1956 London air poll. 1000 deaths; 1957 700-800; 1959 200-250; 1962 700; 1963 700 deaths1963 New York 200-400 people died of air pollutionINDOOR AIR POLLUTION - anti-smoking laws

Solid Waste Disposal

In rural areas an average of 1.0 kg of solid waste/capita-day is generated; in cities thisamount is 1.6 kg/capita-day.Where to put all the waste? Landfills are rapidly becoming full, and land is an increasingly valuablecommodity. Incinerators to burn the waste are unpopular with the public.

Hazardous Waste Treatment and Contaminated Site Remediation

RCRA and CERCLA are the two primary federal regulations pertaining to hazardous waste. Theseregulations define a hazardous waste (as distinct from non-hazardous solid or liquid wastes) on thebasis of the chemical properties of the waste. Properties of concern are flammability, reactivity,corrosivity, and human toxicity.

It is estimated that in the U.S. about 425,000 sites are in need of some degree of clean-up.These locations were contaminated by past activities and include Federal Department of Energy andDepartment of Defense Sites (including Rocky Flats and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal; about 110DOE sites and 17,000 DOD sites), gas stations where underground storage tanks have leaked fuel,and numerous industrial sites. The estimated cost to clean these sites to a “safe” level (in terms ofthe risk posed to human health and the environment) are on the order of $700 billion.

One example of the remediation work conducted by environmental engineers is in Kuwait, where in1991 in the Gulf War, Iraqi army exploded oil storage tanks causing massive spills into the PersianGulf and set fire to Kuwaiti oil wells. The result was that discharged oil formed over 300 oil lakescovering >49 km2 land (12,100 acres) and contained an estimated 9 million cubic meters of oil (2.38billion gallons). Aerial fallout of the oil covers several hundred square kilometers, with >25 millioncubic meters contaminated soil (0.88 billion cubic feet). One methods being investigated to clean-upthe contamination are bioremediation methods (such as landfarming). These methods exploit theability of naturally occurring soil bacteria to “eat” the components in the oil and convert them toharmless carbon dioxide, water, and more bacteria.

Industrial Waste Treatment and Waste Minimization

RCRA1984 Bhopal, India Union Carbide >2000 people die from accidental release of methyl isocyanate;

result EPCRA in US

Radioactive WasteLargely present due to nuclear weapons (especially wastes that were generated in the waste

to build the first atom bomb, before we had a full understanding of radioactive waste) and by-products from nuclear reactors used to generate energy.WIPP and Yucca Mountain - U.S. attempts to develop permanent locations to store the waste untilthe hazard due to the radioactivity naturally decays awayLow Level Wastes - generated from hospitals, research, etc. To be handled in state-run locations.

What you might do as an environmental Engineer:

1. Work for Regulatory Agencies such as U.S. EPA or State Department of Natural Resourcesreview remedial designs submitted by consulting engineers and determine adequacynegotiate clean-up standards with state, local, and responsible partieshelp acquire data to support changing in-force regulations pertaining to the environment

2. Work for a consulting firm (examples: CH2M Hill, Montgomery Watson)conduct site assessments: on-site sampling, data reductionwork with environmental scientists and toxicologists to develop risk assessmentsdesign remediation or treatment facilitiesdesign plant upgrades, process optimization

3. Work for industryin-plant waste minimization studiescompany in-house designs for waste treatment

4. Work at a National Laboratory or research facility (such as Battelle or a university)design and test new strategies for waste treatment

Linda Huff “chemical engineer and president of Huff and Huff, Inc., a sixteen-personenvironmental engineering consulting firm. We work with a variety of clients ranging from industryand transportation to individual communities and private developers. We focus on all types ofenvironmental problems: air emissions, underground storage tanks, groundwater and soilremediation, hazardous waste management, training of industrial personnel in hazardous waste andhazardous materials regulations, and measurement and abatement of noise. ...we employ abiologist, geologist, a hydrologist, a historian, 4 civil engineers, a mechanical engineer, and anotherchemical engineer. For a small firm, we have great diversity in both personnel and projects.” BSChemical Engineering, MBA;

References:Al-Awadhi, N., R. Al-Daher, A. ElNawawy, and M. Balba. 1996. “Bioremediation of Oil-Contaminated Soil in

Kuwait.” Journal of Soil Contamination. 5(3): 243-260.Huff, Linda. 1997. In: Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering. Temple Univ Press. Phil. p. 223-227.Ray, B. T. 1995. Environmental Engineering. PWS Publishers, Boston.Sincero, A. & G. Sincero. 1996. Environmental Engineering: A Design Approach. Prentice-Hall, Inc.Vesilind, P. A. 1997. Introduction to Environmental Engineering. PWS Publishers, Boston.

Good web-site: www.epa.gov

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING IQ TEST (at the end of your 4-year CE degree with anenvironmental emphasis, the following questions will be easy)

1. If I find DDT in fish flesh it is a fact that the DDT is a pollutant but a judgement that it is acontaminant. TRUE FALSE

2. Which of the following are never considered pollutants?a) organisms such as bacteria and virusesb) organic chemicalsc) energy such as heat or noised) all can be considered pollutants under some circumstances

3. Which of the following would be considered the most chronic effect of pollution?a) a massive die-off of fish in a lake due to oxygen depletion under the ice (winter kill)b) eggshell thinning in eagles due to insecticide exposurec) the death of birds due to oil on their feather from an oil spilld) death of people from chlorera associated with contaminated water

4. Rain is naturally acidic. True False5. Which of the following is NOT one of the 2 major acids involved in acid precipitation?

a) nitric acid b) carbonic acid c) sulfuric acid6. Photochemical smog results from an interaction between nitrogen oxide, peroxyacyl nitrates

(PANs), and which of the following:a) ozone b) sulfuric acid c) methane d) oxygen

7. Primary wastewater treatment is primarily a biological treatment process. True False8. What does BOD stand for?

a) biological order diversity b) biochemical oxygen demandc) biomass of dinoflagellates d) biodegradable organic density

9. Which of the following phases of sewage treatment produces the least amount of sludge?a) a trickling filter used in secondary treatmentb) activated sludge used in secondary treatment

10. Chlorine is used in wastewater treatment to do which of the following:a) remove the ammonia b) reduce the phosphorusc) kill bacteria d) bleach the water to clarify it

11. Which of the following is not one of the primary goals of municipal wastewater treatment:a) remove materials in sewage so that the wastewater will not support bacteria growthb) remove materials in sewage so that the wastewater will not support algae growthc) remove toxic substances like pesticides from the wastewaterd) destroy pathogenic microorganisms

12. DDT and its metabolites are no longer found in the U.S. environment because DDT was bannedfrom use in the early 1970s TRUE FALSE

13. match the chemicals to pollution events occurring in the areas listedMinimata Bay, Japan a) oil e) mercuryChernobyl, USSR b) DDTBhopal, India c) radiationPrince William Sound, Alaska d) isocyanate

14. Which of following is not a significant environmental impact of the Aswan Dam in Egypt?a) increased incidence of human diseaseb) enrichment of the Mediterranean Sea near the mouth of the Nile Riverc) salt build-up in the soil down river from the damd) erosion of the Nile delta region

15. Which of the following is an example of non-point source pollution?a) effluent from a sewage treatment plantb) pesticides running off farm fields and entering a riverc) air pollution from a coal burning power plant